St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

The glory of Christ in us

St Paul’s letter to the Romans has been described as the high-point of the New Testament, and chapter 8 the high-point of the letter. During November we’re taking four weeks to look at it, in the run-up to thinking about why Jesus came to us at all (at Christmas).

Here’s the brief summary. Although we are sinners and deserve punishment for our wrongs, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (v1). How can that be right, for if God is a god of justice then he must punish sinners? It’s right because God has sent his Son Jesus to pay the penalty that should have been ours (v3). But what right has Jesus to pay our debts? He has the right because God adopted us in his family: he made us his children by giving us his Spirit (v15). Is that a “real” adoption or is it just a formality? It’s a real adoption, because God’s Spirit helps us to be different, even though we are still weak and continue to sin (v26). And we can know God’s victory in our lives and look forward to glory, secure because nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ (v39).

Paul wrote his letter to Christians whom he had not yet met, and as you read it through you can’t help notice how he seems to be constantly back-tracking: it’s a bit like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. But from the way he writes you can tell what the other person must have said - the questions that the Christians in Rome must have been asking, and the minds of things which others had said to Paul as he had tried to explain about Jesus to them. And that’s one reason for tackling the chapter nowadays. Many of us have got questions about how the Christian faith stacks up, and in Paul’s words there are all sorts of answers to queries that people have on various aspects of what Christians believe.

Many Christians have been inspired and comforted by this chapter of the bible, and it’s worth taking a fresh look at it and seeing if it strikes a chord in our hearts. For instance, Charles Wesley (born 18th December 1707 - 300 years ago next month) wrote his famous hymn “And can it be?” out of the glorious opening verses of this chapter, which explain how condemnation would rightly hang over all of us but for the amazing self-sacrifice of Jesus which removed it. So come and join us and find out how these verses can inspire you too.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. November 2007, Page 2.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (November 2007) Kingdom season, Romans 8, Free for All tour, Theistic Evolution. Other articles on the bible.	The glory of Christ in us St Paul’s letter to the Romans has been described as the high-point of the New Testament, and chapter 8 the high-point of the letter. During November we’re taking four weeks to look at it, in the run-up to thinking about why Jesus came to us at all (at Christmas). Here’s the brief summary. Although we are sinners and deserve punishment for our wrongs, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (v1). How can that be right, for if God is a god of justice then he must punish sinners? It’s right because God has sent his Son Jesus to pay the penalty that should have been ours (v3). But what right has Jesus to pay our debts? He has the right because God adopted us in his family: he made us his children by giving us his Spirit (v15). Is that a “real” adoption or is it just a formality? It’s a real adoption, because God’s Spirit helps us to be different, even though we are still weak and continue to sin (v26). And we can know God’s victory in our lives and look forward to glory, secure because nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ (v39). Paul wrote his letter to Christians whom he had not yet met, and as you read it through you can’t help notice how he seems to be constantly back-tracking: it’s a bit like listening to one side of a telephone conversation. But from the way he writes you can tell what the other person must have said - the questions that the Christians in Rome must have been asking, and the minds of things which others had said to Paul as he had tried to explain about Jesus to them. And that’s one reason for tackling the chapter nowadays. Many of us have got questions about how the Christian faith stacks up, and in Paul’s words there are all sorts of answers to queries that people have on various aspects of what Christians believe. Many Christians have been inspired and comforted by this chapter of the bible, and it’s worth taking a fresh look at it and seeing if it strikes a chord in our hearts. For instance, Charles Wesley (born 18th December 1707 - 300 years ago next month) wrote his famous hymn “And can it be?” out of the glorious opening verses of this chapter, which explain how condemnation would rightly hang over all of us but for the amazing self-sacrifice of Jesus which removed it. So come and join us and find out how these verses can inspire you too. John Hartley
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